Presented at ISEC 2000

Girls' Voices: Are they on the Agenda?

Sue Dawn, Jacqui Smith, Lynda Haddock & Leora Cruddas

e-mail - leora.cruddas@newham.gov.uk

Abstract

There is some research evidence to suggest that girls are under-represented in the category of emotional and behavioural difficulties and that existing support and resources go to boys. A recent study conducted by Daniels et al (1996) found that the most marked gender differences in special educational needs are in the category 'EBD' (emotional and behavioural difficulties); however, there is very little research which aims to look specifically at gender imbalances in the category 'EBD'. In 'Meeting Special Educational Needs: A Programme for Action', the government committed itself to providing additional resources to "stimulate greater inclusion" by providing financial support under the SEN Standards Fund. Newham LEA secured funding for an action research project to develop responses to girls' emotional and behavioural difficulties in the context of the Behaviour Support Plan. The aim of our project is to advise the LEA on a policy for girls' emotional and behavioural difficulties informed by the different points of view of the young women with whom developmental group work has been undertaken. We propose that our symposium be organised around these young women's voices: their perspectives on emotional and behavioural difficulties, how barriers to communicating these difficulties can be overcome and their experiences of inclusion and exclusion in schools.

A very special thanks must go to the girls who gave of their time and themselves and shared with us their thoughts, feelings and experiences. We hope that their voices in this report will become an index of social change.

Our warmest thanks to the staff and schools who participated in the project as well as all the staff from statutory and voluntary organisations who gave us their time and ideas particulary Rahela Ahmed (Outreach Counselling Service), Emily Herr (LIVELine Express) and Joanne Fagon.

Thanks also to Paul Howard, Lynda Haddock and Wayne Keenan who gave us support and guidance during the year.

The project team are very grateful to Professor Valerie Hey, who has just been appointed to the Chair of Research at Brunel University. Her contribution to the structure and design of the research project was invaluable. We hope that she will continue to provide us with support and advice in the next phase of the project.

Our thanks must also go the DfEE for funding this vital piece of research through the Standards Fund.

Project Team Members:
Leora Cruddas
Sue Dawn
Elaine Freedman
Glen Pierre-MacFarlane
Jacqui Smith

This report was written in a collaborative spirit by project team members who all contributed in different ways. However, substantial parts of the report were written by Sue Dawn and Jacqui Smith, in dialogue with the project team members.

The report was edited by Lynda Haddock and Leora Cruddas.
Thanks to David Loblack for the design and layout.

List of abbreviations used in this report:

DfEE - Department for Education and Employment

EAL - English as an additional language

EBD - Emotional and behavioural difficulties

EiC - Excellence in Cities Funding

NQT - Newly Qualified Teacher

SEN - Special Educational Needs

SIMS - School Information Management System

PSHE - Personal, Social and Health Education

PSHRE - Personal, Social, Health and Religious Education

1. Summary

i. Equal Opportunities Monitoring Issues

• We would like to lose the 'SEN' focus with its implicit construction of individual deficit and move towards a focus on inclusive education for all young people. However, within the constraints of SEN discourse, we note the low incidence of girls identified with EBD on SEN registers. We realise that without this 'official recognition' resources, including staffing, are unlikely to reach the girls concerned. We also noted the low priority that was given to the 'E', as opposed to the 'B', in EBD. This would also indicate that resources, including staffing, are less likely to reach girls who are in need.
• We found it difficult to obtain accurate information regarding gender and ethnicity from SEN registers. Schools are not currently obliged to add this information to their SEN register and SIMS records are not always up to date.
• It was difficult for the project team to access centrally held SIMS information that would help to monitor equal opportunities including SEN, gender and ethnicity.
• The current categorisation for ethnicity does not include either Black British or Mixed Race. Many of the girls in the project felt that their ethnicity was being ignored and, therefore, they were discriminated against. Being labelled 'Other' (the only category available to describe themselves) was a negative experience.
• Many of the girls in our groups were non-attenders - either internally or externally, selectively or globally. Monitoring and investigation of the antecedents of non-attendance could produce some helpful data in terms of girls' emotional needs and Equal Opportunities.

ii. The Development of More Flexible Responses to Girls' Emotional Issues

• The allocation of SEN resources is consistently uneven and has resulted in marginalising girls. We therefore recommend the development of more flexible responses to girls' emotional issues, with a focus on removing barriers to learning and participation.
• Home/School Liaison practices were generally ad-hoc, often concerned negative issues or were formal occasions (i.e. reviews, exclusions etc.). Many of the girls felt that contact between home and school was largely negative. Schools should look to setting up positive lines of communication with parents, engendering feelings of inclusion in the education of their children.
• The issue of primary/secondary transition (that has recently been foregrounded in Dfee circular 10/99 Social Inclusion: Pupil Support) came up time and again in our conversations with the girls. They had found it a time of great stress and emotional turmoil and could identify the same processes in younger girls. This was true for girls from all the project schools. A LEA review of best practice in transition could identify how schools can diminish this anxiety. Schools need to improve their liaison between primary and secondary schools particularly for vulnerable girls.
• The Excellence in Cities (EiC) initiative, particularly the provision of learning mentors and the gifted and talented programme, could be a starting point for flexible responses to girls with EBD.
• It was noted that knowledge and understanding of the services offered by statutory and non-statutory agencies in the borough was fragmented and ad hoc. There is a need for a more 'joined up' co-ordinated approach to the delivery of these services.
• KS4 was noted as a particularly difficult time for some girls with EBD. This could be because of underlying learning and/or emotional difficulties. There is currently little in the way of either options or courses available in mainstream schools to cater for their differing needs; neither is there 'joined up thinking' in the form of a multi-agency forum to meet their needs.
• Girls from mixed schools complained that they were often used as a means of social control for badly behaved boys in their classes. They saw this as discriminatory and unfair. They also felt that it was sometimes very difficult for them to be heard over these boys - either because staff did not listen to them or because they found it difficult to cope with the comments that the boys in their classes made towards them. Schools need to develop a range of strategies to ensure that girls do not get 'drowned out' by the clamour of the boys.
• Within the current climate of SEN, the project team felt that there was not enough awareness amongst school staff of the 'E' in EBD - many conversations that we had at the beginning of the project solely concerned girls' behaviours. We refer to Daniels et al. (1999) who state that schools that are successful with students who have EBD have a key member of staff who understands the nature of EBD and shared values for a core of staff who work co-operatively with one another and with the students. This should be extended to include an understanding of the importance of emotional 'literacy' for all students and a move towards learning as listening, collaboration and sharing. Girls identified pastoral systems (form tutors, Heads of Year/House) as within-school systems that could help those with emotional difficulties. They pointed out, however, that the personality, interest and training of such staff made a difference to the effectiveness of their interventions. Training could help staff to make more of their role as form tutor and, thus, give positive intervention to girls in need. Staff new to the LEA, particularly Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs), could benefit from specific training.

The Research Boundaries

2.1. Aims of Bid The Standards Fund Bid states that 'the tendency towards preoccupation with the 'B' in EBD has contributed to the concentration of resources in responses to acting out behaviours that are more common among boys than girls. It is within this context that the Girls' Project was set up. The three main objectives of the project were:

• The development of whole school approaches to the identification of and responses to girls' EBD
• The production and dissemination of detailed evaluations of the various strategies piloted in the project
• The production of a draft LEA strategy for girls' EBD

2.2 Questions for Investigation

We identified three broad focus areas:

• policy
• practices and processes (implementation of policies)
• participants' perspectives

These areas were broken down into the questions below. We used these questions to guide our project.

i. Policy

i. What is the national policy context within which girls' emotional and behavioural difficulties is framed?
ii. What are the local school policies and procedures for identification and implementation?

ii. Practices and Processes

i. How are policies put into operation in schools?
ii. What is the formal and informal good practice that already exists?
iii. What are the practices that help to create the under-representation of girls' EBD?
iv. What is the existing statutory and voluntary provision for girls, how is this accessed and what is the uptake?
v. What cohesion is there between these agencies?
vi. What are the socio-cultural practices within which girls are identified as having EBD?

iii. Participants' perspectives

i. How do professional discourses construct practitioners' understanding of girls' EBD?
ii. What are girls' understandings of EBD?
iii. What are the key issues for girls?

2.3 Working with schools As proposed in the Standards Fund Bid, the project operated within an action research model. Historically, research in education has been done on teachers or to teachers. Research is seen as the realm of experts outside the teaching profession and is controlled by them, giving teachers little or no say in the subject, scope or scale of the investigation and resulting in their alienation from the processes and findings of research. This kind of research often has little relevance or direct benefit to teachers or learners. Action research is controlled by teachers. It aims to improve practice and help develop teachers' professional judgement and expertise. Our aim as a team of teacher-researchers working alongside mainstream teachers in schools, was to make this model as participatory as possible. Following Atweh, Kemmis and Weeks (1998), we believe that action research has six key features, at least as important as the self-reflective spirals of planning, acting, observing and reflecting:

• It is a social process:
  The project team attempted to explore the relationship between the realms of the individual and her social and systemic contexts. We tried to reach a shared understanding of how we are formed and reformed in relation to (and in relationships with) one another.
• It is participatory:
  In dialogue with schools and students, we attempted to examine our knowledge and interpretative categories.
• It is practical and collaborative:
  We tried to engage students, staff and ourselves in examining the acts that link us to others.
• It is emancipatory:
  We explored the ways in which our practices are shaped and constrained by wider social structures.
• It is critical:
  We tried to become more aware of the constraints embedded in our language, our modes of work and our social relationships. We deliberately set out to change unproductive, unjust and unsatisfying ways of working or relating to others.
• It is dialectical:
  We set about investigating reality in an attempt to change it, and changing it in order to investigate it. We embarked on a process of learning by doing, and learning with others by changing the ways we interact in a shared social world.

Within the constraints of this framework, the following developmental work was undertaken in project schools:

Identification of girls: We wanted to investigate teachers' understandings of EBD and how formal and informal methods of identification operate in schools.

We asked teachers to look at class lists and use an 'E' or a 'B' (or both) to indicate girls with whom the project team might work. We compared this data with the SEN registers. It was, unfortunately, only possible to complete this task in two of the project schools. In these schools, the exercise was initially carried out with form tutors and then repeated with senior staff with specific pastoral or SEN responsibilities. An analysis of these data is made in the findings.

Group work: The vast majority of work undertaken involved working directly with identified students in small groups of not more than twelve. We used a developmental group work model that employs a variety of circle-time type techniques in order to encourage the development of cognitive and interpersonal skills. Our main aims were to enable the girls to communicate their needs, to understand the needs of others and to increase their confidence and raise self-esteem. This also allowed the group facilitators to respond flexibly to issues that emerged within the sessions.

In-class support: project staff also worked in classes to deliver more conventional models of support to identified students

Individual interviews: As part of our project evaluation we carried out individual interviews with over 50% of the girls who had been in the developmental groups in order to elicit detailed comments about their experiences of being part of the project. Their responses were transcribed and form a significant source for our findings and recommendations.

Profiles: (see appendix C) We completed personal profiles on 52 girls who took part in the project to collect data relating to ethnicity, EAL, family background, SEN, involvement with other agencies, attendance and exclusion. Inter-school symposium: Towards the end of the project, we held a symposium at Debden House for 36 of the girls from four of the project schools. The theme of the day was 'giving girls a voice' and our aim was to provide girls with a forum where they could share their feelings and ideas about key issues that affect them in schools. The girls took part in three workshops on a carousel basis: Gender, Culture and Relationships. Their contributions were recorded in writing and on video.

In addition to the developmental work in schools, members of the project team also interviewed a number of statutory and non-statutory agencies working with young people in the borough, both in and out of the school environment. This was done in order to begin to build a picture of the range of provision available and to discover to what extent girls in the borough access these resources. The agencies we interviewed were:

- Educational Psychology Service
- Educational Welfare Service
- Child and Family Consultation Service
- Non-attenders' Unit
- Intermediate Treatment Centre (Walton Road)
- Youth Action Programme (Drugs Counselling)
- Conflict and Change (who train peer counsellors)
- Liveline Express (who offer a counselling service in schools)
- Community Links
- Young Asian Women's Outreach Counselling Service.

Research Findings

3.1 Policy

i. What is the national policy context within which girls' EBD is framed? In Newham gender imbalances for EBD as recorded in Code of Practice data follow national trends [appendix A, table A]. The Standards Fund Bid suggests that the assessment of EBD within the Code of Practice, together with the tendency towards preoccupation with the 'B' in EBD, contribute to this under -representation of girls. Our analysis of national policies therefore has three main objectives:

• to trace the construction of the category of the 'EBD student' that emerges from policy definitions;
• to identify how current educational policies continue to prioritise the provision of resources towards boys' EBD;
• to consider how the label 'EBD' itself acts to construct deficits in individuals.

Contemporary definitions of EBD originate from the medical deficit model of 'maladjusted' behaviour present in the 1944 Education Act. Subsequent definitions have continued to locate the child as the problematic source of 'extreme' behaviour that 'causes severe disruption in ordinary schools' (Warnock Report 1981). The Elton Report highlighted the 'disturbing' behaviour of students with EBD and cited this as a justification for their exclusion from mainstream education:
A small number of students have such severe and persistent behaviour as a result of emotional, psychological and neurological disturbance that their needs cannot be met in the mainstream schools. (DES, 1989)

In both these texts the focus is on the challenging behaviour of the student with EBD and the 'disturbing' effect of that behaviour within the mainstream classroom.

It is only in the 1990s that definitions of EBD begin to move away from an individual deficit model and make specific reference to the socio-cultural contexts within which EBD is located. However, this does not result in an examination of the way in which SEN categorisation creates a notion of the 'normal' student, in relation to which other groups are defined and/or excluded. What we see emerging instead is a wider 'cultural' deficit model that identifies certain social factors such as family, as significant in relation to EBD.

DfEE circular 9/94 refers to family environments as a possible cause of EBD and recognises that it is not only revealed through acting-out behaviours: 'EBD may show through withdrawn, depressive, aggressive or self-injurious tendencies.'

However, the Green Paper Excellence for All (DfEE, 1998), whilst acknowledging the difficulties involved in defining students with EBD, once again highlights the behaviour they may manifest: 'Emotional difficulties may lead to poor behaviour and should therefore be addressed as early as possible.'

The legislative framework therefore militates against identifying girls' EBD. These difficulties are compounded by other pressures on schools. In order to understand how schools identify and respond to girls' EBD we have to examine the wider educational context of raising school achievement and the climate that this can produce, especially in inner - city schools. The publication of league tables and the government targeting of schools which do not meet required standards for GCSE grades have had far reaching effects, some of which have a close bearing on whole-school responses to girls' EBD. Specifically, initiatives that are seen to directly relate to raising academic achievement are more likely to be prioritised, while less conventional interventions, that involve an element of risk taking, may be viewed with some anxiety or even hostility. For example, in some of the project schools we were able to withdraw groups of students from lessons for developmental work, with parental permission, while in others everything had to take place within mainstream lessons. This meant that in some lessons, depending on the nature of the task, we rarely interacted with the girls we were targeting. Additionally, the construction of 'the student' as a category can become very narrow, focusing on the student as learner only, rather than social being with complex emotions that may interfere with their learning. As teachers, our priority is to help students learn. When difficult emotions interfere with this process, we need to be sure that we have effective ways of supporting girls.

Unravelling the strands of national educational policies reveals a very basic tension between raising academic attainment on the one hand and promoting further inclusion on the other. This is articulated in Meeting Special educational Needs - A programme of action (DfEE 1998) which outlines the responses to the Green Paper on SEN:

Some responses expressed concern about the inclusion in mainstream school of children with …EBD. We acknowledge the particular problems such children present, and the dedicated efforts of many teachers to keep them in the mainstream.

Teachers' responses to the Green Paper on SEN revealed that practitioners do not have a sound understanding of EBD and do not feel competent in identifying or responding to students within this category:

Many teachers felt ill equipped to deal with EBD. They said that initial teacher training did not prepare teachers sufficiently in behaviour management and there should be more in-service training on recognising EBD symptoms and on strategies for addressing them. (DfEE, 1998)

The emphasis is again on 'acting out' behaviour: strategies to 'deal' with the student address the behaviour rather than examine the underlying emotional issues. Within this context an eating disorder or self-harming might become invisible.

The Green Paper also sets out the action plan for Special Education from 1998 to 2000. It outlines Standards Fund support for provision of children with EBD. The circular also promotes social inclusion 'by reducing truancy and helping schools to cope with disruptive students.' Once again we can see the emphasis on acting out behaviours and the implicit assumption that students experiencing emotional difficulties will cause disruption in the mainstream classroom. As we have seen, it is precisely this perception that helps create the under-representation of girls' EBD.

The introduction of league tables has also resulted in a shift within gender studies in education in the last decade, from girls' lack of equal opportunities to boys' under achievement. This is another important consideration when examining the gender disparity within SEN resource allocation.

Whilst this project work was undertaken, Excellence in Cities was introduced as a borough wide initiative in Newham schools. The policy documentation relating to Excellence in Cities makes frequent reference to 'barriers to learning' and while there is no specific reference to girls' EBD in this context, Excellence in Cities resources, via the Gifted and Talented and Learning Mentoring strands, could be targeted towards girls with emotional problems.

The national policy context within which EBD is framed and the other pressures on schools outlined above, work against identifying girls' EBD. However, this lack of awareness around gender needs to be seen as part of a broader deficit with regard to other equal opportunities issues.
Race issues, particularly the over-representation of African-Caribbean students, are now well documented. However, research into gender issues, in particular with regard to the numbers and needs of girls with emotional and behavioural difficulties still tends to be sparse. Daniels et al (1995) expressed the view that almost no one looked at gender and SEN in the United Kingdom until the late 1980s.

The over-representation of black students (particularly boys) in SEN categories has been viewed as a political issue and challenged since the 1970's (Coard, 1971; Ford, Mongon and Whelan, 1982; Tomlinson, 1981; 1982; ILEA, 1985; Wright, 1986). However, the under-representation of girls identified as having SEN (particularly EBD), and therefore lacking services and resources to support them, is only now being seen as potentially discriminatory (Malcolm and Haddock, 1992; Vardill, 1996; Daniels et al, 1995: 1999).

Where LEAs have special schools for EBD the disparity between the sexes is marked: six to eight times as many boys as girls are likely to be identified. This disparity is not so wide with regard to African-Caribbean boys and girls. Asian students are generally under-represented. Asian girls rarely attend EBD schools. (See ILEA, 1985; 1988; DES, 1989; Cooper, Upton and Smith, 1991; Daniels, 1995.)

Newham does not have a secondary school for students with EBD and the majority of students for whom EBD is identified as a special need attend mainstream schools. Students who do not attend mainstream provision are almost exclusively boys.
An analysis of the gender of students identified at stages 4 and 5 of the Code of Practice for EBD in the Borough's secondary schools showed that out of 201 students only 38, or less than 20%, were girls (appendix A, table A). These figures follow national trends.
The discourse of SEN within which EBD is identified is however, itself problematic in that it locates problems in small groups of individual young people. Within the context of inclusive education, we recommend a move towards a social model that focuses on supporting the emotional needs of girls and all young people.

ii. What local policies, which outline procedures for identification, are in place for implementation?

Following a campaign spearheaded by parents, Newham made a well-publicised and documented commitment to inclusive education (see Jordan and Goody, 1996). Newham Council's mission statement is:

The ultimate goal of Newham's Inclusive Education Policy is to make it possible for every child, whatever special educational needs they may have, to attend their neighbourhood school, and to have full access to the curriculum and to be able to participate in every aspect of mainstream life and achieve their full potential.

All Newham schools have made a commitment to this policy, but are at different stages in the process of social inclusion..

In much of the SEN documentation from schools, the emphasis is on the student with learning difficulties or physical impairment, and their progress through the Code of Practice. It is clear that within the discourse of Special Needs the category of EBD remains a troublesome one. EBD can become conspicuous through its absence. Policies relating to curriculum access enable a rounder image of the whole student to emerge, especially where monitoring sheets are used and issues relating to the emotional and social spheres are made explicit.

Most schools refer to the Code of Practice as the primary method of identification of students who are experiencing barriers to learning, together with ongoing Curriculum Access Monitoring within the pastoral systems. Our search through local school policies on behaviour, equal opportunities and special educational needs uncovered virtually no references to girls' EBD, except in School D where the disparity between referrals was flagged in the Curriculum Access Handbook.

However the inclusive education policy is not always reflected in schools. The actual practices relating to meeting young peoples' emotional needs is largely determined by the ethos and culture of individual schools and the shared values and understandings of individual members of staff.

3.2 Practices and Processes

i. How are policies put into practice in schools?

The Code of Practice is widely used in all schools as a method of identifying students with EBD but, as we might expect, is not particularly effective in relation to girls. One additional practical reason for this might be the design of the 'initial concern' form, which requests that an example of the student's work is attached, therefore implicitly suggesting that the problem will be a specific learning one. While many boys with EBD can be identified through this process, as they are likely to destroy work or fail to complete it, many girls with emotional problems are high academic achievers. However we also found that a significant number of the girls who were referred to us for emotional issues were on the SEN register for Stage 2 Learning Difficulties which suggests that emotional issues where they affect learning, are identified but paradoxically effaced.

Where girls were identified through this process they rarely got as far as Stage 5 and therefore had no legal entitlement to support from the teachers from the Behaviour Support and Tuition Service who were assigned to each school according to the number of statemented students with EBD on roll. This 'statement led' provision meant that the girls' schools only received part time support, while in the mixed schools many girls were unlikely to receive support at all. At the time of writing this report, SEN funding has been delegated to schools and staff from central support services have been transferred to schools, in order to meet government targets, to facilitate more flexible responses and earlier interventions. These changes should be evaluated in relation to girls' needs in the next phase of the project.

Pastoral monitoring systems that involve individual interviews by teachers, who know students well, can be a useful system for the identification of girls' emotional needs. This system provides one of the main things that girls said they wanted, that is, 'someone to talk to'.

In School D, where girls' emotional needs are addressed at policy level, focused group work was established and project staff worked with school staff to develop their understanding of girls' emotional needs. A Home-School Liaison worker has been in post for some time and part of her work is with small groups of girls. The school has also recently appointed a Community Tutor who has a Youth Work background who is responsible for co-ordinating the setting up of focused group work.

ii. What is the formal and informal good practice that already exists?

A DfEE funded research report (Daniels et al. 1999) 'Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties in Mainstream schools' found that 'the emphasis on values was central to developing good practice for students with EBD and identified five common features:

1. Leadership: Head teachers and senior management teams who provide effective leadership, particularly in communicating the appropriate values, ethos and aspirations of the school.
2. Sharing values: A core of key staff who work together to promote the values of the school, working with all students in ensuring these values and aspirations are realised.
3. Behaviour policy and practice: A consistent and well-monitored behaviour policy where the approaches taken with students with EBD are an extension of behaviour policy for all students.
4. Understanding EBD: Key members of staff who understand the nature of emotional and behavioural difficulties, and are able to distinguish these from sporadic misbehaviour or short-term emotional difficulties.
5. Teaching skills and the curriculum: Effective teaching skills for students with EBD are the same for those for all students; including the ability to learn from one's actions, and teaching an appropriately challenging curriculum.

Thomas and Webb (1998) refer to leadership as a crucial factor in relation to the success of inclusive schools and also identify 'systems for co-operation' as a key feature: 'inclusive schools foster natural support networks across students and staff.'

We found that most of these features were apparent to a greater or lesser extent in all of the project schools but in ones where there was a high level of awareness around emotional need generally, and specifically in relation to girls, shared values were of primary importance. This was apparent at all levels in relation to our project: in the rhetoric and practice of key senior staff with pastoral responsibility; in the way in which subject teachers are willing to allow girls to come out of their lessons for project work; and in the interest that Learning Support Assistants and other non-teaching staff showed in the work we were doing.

In each of the project schools, it was noticeable that girls are aware of the values that key staff hold, and often referred to them by name when asked who they would go to if they had a problem. In many cases it is the person rather than the role, with whom the girls identify. In one school, the nurse is a key person; in another, she is rarely mentioned.

In School A, the ethos of social responsibility is communicated through assemblies, which the Heads of Year encourage the girls to take themselves. The school values co-operation rather than competition and girls are encouraged to offer each other emotional support; a peer support network has been set up in Year 7. Key pastoral staff share a common approach to EBD, which is seen as a barrier to learning. Early intervention is perceived to be crucial. Pastoral staff operate an 'open door policy' that helps to ensure early identification of emotional problems.

The research team found that referral systems are very significant in relation to girls accessing support, especially in the mixed schools. In School D, the Home-School Liaison worker is a qualified social worker and counsellor with a child-centred approach, who encourages girls to self-refer and bring their friends to sessions if they want to. Although the school as a whole has a high number of boys identified as EBD through the Code of Practice, her caseload is predominantly girls.

We also found that in these schools the girls themselves had high levels of emotional literacy and an understanding of the gendered nature of how resources are allocated.

I think boys get more support than girls, I think it's sad, they get it before us…they want attention don't they, and they'll do anything to get it…probably because they've got a problem at home…so they just muck about. Sometimes girls bottle it up more than boys, just sit there and tell people to shut up, sit there and have the hump.

iii. What are the practices that help to create the under representation of girls' EBD?

In one mixed and one girls' school, the project team asked tutors to place an 'E' or a 'B' next to the names of girls about whom they had concerns. In both schools, this process identified more girls than were on the SEN register for EBD. It also highlighted the importance of a shared understanding of the relationship between emotions and behaviour. This exercise was repeated with senior staff who tended to use as E' or 'E' and 'B' to identify the girls. This reflected their recognition that emotions are the context within which behaviours are generated. In addition, these staff identified a high number of girls from each class, many of whom had exhibited no 'acting out' behaviours but who were, nevertheless, known to have difficult circumstances.

It is interesting that the responses of the tutors who took part in this exercise differed from the senior staff in two ways. Firstly, they identified a much smaller number of girls and secondly, they were far more likely to use a 'B' to identify them. There are many possible explanations for this disparity, not least staff perceptions of their own level of expertise in relation to EBD.

Another interesting area, but one that is very difficult to define, is the subjective nature of the identification process. Staff across the project schools referred to processes that could not be quantified, describing them variously as "knowing there's something going on there" or "having a gut feeling that something's wrong". Despite the seemingly arbitrary nature of this type of identification, we would wish to acknowledge that it can and does form the basis for effective interventions with girls, and encourage staff to listen to their instincts with students whom they know well.

iv. What is the existing statutory and voluntary provision for girls, how is this accessed and what is the uptake?

Some of the agencies that we interviewed had statistics available. Overall non-statutory groups seemed to have collated more information about users of their services, probably because of funding requirements. Agencies that responded directly to specific issues, for example drugs, are more likely to have a more equal gender ratio among initial referrals. These groups are also able to target girls for particular types of intervention.

Even when agencies showed awareness of Equal Opportunities issues in relation to their allocation policies, ring fenced resources were not always taken up by schools. Two of the agencies that we spoke to had allocated a number of places for girls but did not receive enough referrals from schools.

Where referrals of individual students to the services come directly from schools and relate to EBD, the familiar pattern emerges: the number of boys referred far outnumbers girls. The way that referrals are made from schools depends very much on the culture of the school. Agencies identified the following factors that influenced referral procedures:

• Confidence or level of awareness of individual teachers: this is especially significant where referrals are filtered through one link member of staff.
• Perceived success of the school: schools that are seen to be 'failing' in terms of academic achievement tend to refer more acting out boys because of the pressure to focus on discipline.
• Cultural stereotyping: Asian girls are under represented in referrals to agencies.
• Type of pastoral system: the appropriateness of referrals to other agencies is directly related to the effectiveness of the pastoral systems.

Many agencies identified the transition from year 6 to year 7 as crucial in terms of the emergence of emotional problems for girls. This is borne out by the findings of Child and Family Consultation Services nationally. The Liveline Annual Report (1998) suggests: 'Students who fail to adjust adequately to the change in educational environments are at risk of developing such low motivation that is becomes a permanent feature of their attitude to schooling from then on.'

Agencies also identified home-school liaison as important in supporting girls' emotional and behavioural difficulties. Work with parents and carers should take place as soon as possible, when problems begin to emerge so that appropriate interventions can be put in place. During an interview, a member of staff from Child and Family Consultation Service observed: 'Most behaviours in the classroom are related to things going on outside it.'

iv. What cohesion is there between these agencies?

We found that access to non-statutory groups varied considerably among schools. Patterns of use in each school tended to be historic rather than needs led. There is a considerable amount of knowledge and expertise existing and operating within these services that schools are not accessing. Access to agencies can also be fragmentary within schools and often depends on the knowledge that key staff hold. Individual Heads of Year or Heads of House often develop a close relationship with a particular service provider. There is a need for a multi-agency forum to be set up to implement and monitor a borough-wide strategy.

vi. What are the socio-cultural practices within which girls are identified as having EBD?

Ethnicity emerged as a key issue in relation to the identification of girls' EBD. The data generated from girls referred to the project showed that the project schools reflected national trends: girls from African-Caribbean backgrounds were over represented while girls from Asian backgrounds were under-represented as having EBD. Schools saw many of the African-Caribbean girls referred to the team as having behavioural difficulties, rather than emotional needs.

School A over identified girls with African-Caribbean backgrounds by some 50%. The school has a small number of Asian girls, none of whom were identified (appendix A, table B).

School D also over identified African-Caribbean girls, although some of these students were refugees who were referred for emotional support. Only one Asian girl worked with the project but she came as a friend of another student, not through a referral (appendix A, table C).

School E over represented Black Caribbean girls by 47%, Black African girls by 20% and Black Other by 82%. There is some ambiguity around which students are classified as 'other.' Although Asian girls constituted 47% of the whole school population they made up only 12% of referrals to the project (appendix A, table D).

Schools B and C could not be analysed in this way because of the relatively small numbers of girls involved.

There are several key issues that arise from this data analysis. Firstly, there are inconsistencies between schools in the way that black students are categorised and this makes collection and comparisons of data difficult. Although we used the DfEE Form 7 categories to analyse school populations, schools themselves employed a wide variety of ethnic descriptors. It was noticeable that Black British was not used by any of them.

Secondly, it is clear that there are complex social and cultural factors at work here that need further investigation. The McPherson Report, following the racist murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence, has highlighted the institutional racism that operates at many levels of our society and the need for individual institutions to examine their policies and practice. It would appear that in our schools both African-Caribbean and Asian girls are subject to forms of cultural stereotyping that serve to pathologise the former, while rendering the latter mute and invisible. One of the significant 'gaps' in our report is the voices of Asian girls. The result of this, in terms of resources, is that Asian girls access least support from both statutory and voluntary services. This is a worrying trend in the light of the correlation between suicide mortality rates and ethnicity: 'Asian women…present the highest figures for both actual and attempted suicide compared to their white and African-Caribbean counterparts' (Soni-Raleigh, 1996).

A report by Newham Asian Women's Project, 'Growing up Young, Asian and Female in Britain' (1998), draws attention to the high levels of self harm, including eating disorders, among young Asian women in Newham. It recommends training for all staff to raise awareness about these issues.

3.3 Girls' Perspectives

i) What are girls' understandings of EBD?

Findings from the project demonstrate that girls have their own construction of need, not related to an 'EBD' deficit model. The girls we worked with talked about a continuum of emotional need that all young people experience. We found that their understanding of social inclusion is, in some cases, more sophisticated than policy documents. They identified emotional issues for both boys and girls as barriers to learning and participation. They showed an understanding of how challenging behaviours are generated from unresolved emotional issues and advocated 'emotional work' for all young people.

Many of the girls we interviewed had a clear perception of how girls' EBD is often located within a medical, deficit model by their teachers.

...with girls, if they have mood swings it's put down to periods or hormones.

Some girls said that if they behaved inappropriately they would be 'sent to medical'; others said they would ask to go, in order to avoid a stressful classroom situation.

…you get all angry or sobby or sometimes you get really quiet and can't be bothered - if I want to go to the bathroom and they say no you just go crazy.

The girls with whom we worked had very clear understandings of emotional and behavioural difficulties, and the relationship between the two:

I reckon that most boys who are naughty have an emotional problem and they just cover it up with bad behaviour…I reckon that goes for girls as well.

Girls in mixed schools had significant awareness of gender differences in EBD and the way they were responded to:

The teachers here take a lot of interest in the hyper-naughty kids…girls' emotions are tried to be dealt with but not their behaviour. With boys they work on their behaviour but not their emotions.

I reckon that most boys who are naughty have an emotional problem and they just cover it up with bad behaviour. I don't think that most teachers realise its underneath and just concentrate on their behaviour. I reckon that goes for girls as well.

Boys don't just sit there and deal with it, they lash out and be naughty and get listened to.

Although the levels of understanding varied, there was a widely held belief that changes in behaviour were a manifestation of underlying emotional problems for both sexes:

… you can always tell, there's always something that they'll do differently…they're either really loud, aggressive, moody, or very quiet, don't talk or listen much … no-one's ever normal and has problems…

Most of our interviewees were able to describe how a girl's behaviour might indicate that she was experiencing emotional difficulties However, girls were aware that these changes might be quite subtle, or difficult to spot:

…There're signs; they look pale…their face changes.
…girls look grumpy…their personality changes.

An important finding was that most girls thought that having someone to talk to when they needed to was crucial.

What stops us learning?

Much of our developmental work involved us listening to the girls and recording their voices. They were very clear and explicit in telling us what issues are important to them and how these can be barriers to learning.

Relationship Problems

Friendships
The girls were clear that friendship groups are important to them and their emotional well being. However, when friendships break down they are often left feeling isolated and excluded. This can then lead to mental and/or physical absence from school. Friendship groups are powerful forces in girls' lives.

Parents
Relationships with parents are also seen as powerful forces in the girls' lives. Positive relationships engendered feelings of well being and security. Negative periods in parental relationships could, however, adversely affect the girls. The girls were able to see that being ignored by their parents led to feelings of poor self-worth and could be as damaging, if not more so, than confrontational relationships.

Peer Group Pressure

Whilst peer group pressure can be a positive influence, it is also possible for it to lead to negative outcomes. Girls can feel that they have no choice but to comply with their peer group through fear of becoming an outsider. It can also be used as a means of social control and/or exclusion when the peer group has a cultural basis.

Romantic Relationships
Relationships can lead to strong emotional responses from girls. They can feel hurt and confused when relationships break down, leading to loss of self-confidence and esteem. The girls saw differences in the way that women and men behave in relationships, particularly with regard to openness.

We found that it was comparitively easy (although often still painful) for girls to talk about romantic relationships with boys, but difficult (in most cases, impossible) for girls to discuss relationships that are not heterosexual. We note with concern the gaps and silences this creates in the report.

Loss
Loss can take many forms. The girls spoke of losing loved ones - grandparents, parents, siblings and other family members. Some felt this loss through death, others through family separations. Some lost loved ones in traumatic circumstances. All loss had an impact on the girls concerned and affected all areas of their lives.

Academic Issues

Transitions
Girls in all the Project schools identified the transition from primary to secondary school as a time of great pressure. They had been through it themselves and felt that they were not noticed as having problems unless they 'acted out'. They were all keen to reach out to new Year 7 students, particularly those who they perceived were having problems. Some could identify with younger students who they saw as having similar problems to themselves at that stage - friendless, aggressive, weight problems, lonely etc.

Other transition problems concerned moving schools more often than usual, possibly due to family circumstances or to problems between themselves and the school. This is a point to take into consideration for those girls who are permanently excluded from school and who then have the hurdle to overcome of fitting into another establishment, in addition to their original problems.

Discrete groups for whom transition may present problems are refugees. Newham has a Refugee Team, however they are not able to have a presence in all schools at all times.

Lack of Opportunity for Oracy
Many of the girls felt that 'acting out' boys took up too much of a teacher's time in class. They felt that they were not listened to and had little opportunity to give their opinions in lessons. The different levels of personal disclosure between boys and girls also emerged - girls see that boys do not talk about their emotions and feelings as much as girls and this leads to a difference in the way that things get discussed in class. Developmental group-work sessions specifically for girls were popular because they felt that they had the opportunity to have their say.

Pressure to succeed
Many girls said that they were under pressure from schools and parents to achieve academic success. Whilst they appreciated the need to do their best and do well, they felt that the level of pressure applied was too high. They commented on the amount of subjects that they were required to study - some girls feeling that they could do better if they weren't stretched so thinly. It was often girls who were more able, academically, who felt negative about the pressure that they were under. Parental expectations were particularly high for some girls from certain ethnic backgrounds; girls were often aware of this pressure on their classmates. Girls at Key Stage 4 commented on the pressure that teachers put them under on GCSE courses. They felt that they had no space to think about where they were going and no time to consolidate work because of the all-round pressure of an academic curriculum. We found that developmental group-work gave them a space in the week where they could voice these concerns and work together to overcome their anxieties.

Pregnancy
When we asked the girls at the symposium what things stopped girls learning, they very clearly identified pregnancy as an issue. Girls who become pregnant whilst at school tend to drop out of the school system. This may be in the short term, whilst they arrange for a termination, or in the long term if they decide to keep their baby. The whole way of looking at schoolgirls who become pregnant needs some examination and re-thinking.

Mental Health
The girls felt that mental health issues were a barrier to learning. Many of them picked out depression as having a negative effect on their ability to take part in school life.

Body Image
The girls were aware of issues surrounding eating disorders and self-harm. Some of the girls in the groups had eating problems. Even those who did not have an eating disorder were conscious of their body image. Schools were aware of the difficulties but there was little done to approach or offer help to the girls. Many of the girls did not enjoy PE and were happy to be able to officially miss lessons. Many would truant from this lesson specifically. They did not like communal changing rooms, the kit that they were required to wear and some of the activities. However, some of the girls liked to do physical activities outside of school.

Stereotyping

Sexuality
Girls saw that society views them in certain ways - this was particularly noted in the magazines, which they read. Trying to conform to these stereotypes could cause lack of self- confidence and esteem, both of which could lead to feelings of isolation and lack of desire to engage with others.

Social Control
The girls saw that they were being used as a method of social control for the boys in their classes. They saw a difference in the way that boys and girls were treated, even though their behaviours might be similar.

Domestic Responsibilities
Many of the girls had responsibilities outside of school that took up a lot of their time. They felt that schools did not appreciate this. They also felt that they had more responsibilities than boys did and saw this as unfair. They saw this continuing in the classroom with teachers asking girls to do tasks that they would not bother the boys with.

Reputations
The girls were aware of reputations that might precede themselves or other girls. These could be constructed by other students, teachers, family and wider society. Reputations regarding sexual activity, behaviour, feistiness, moodiness, loudness etc. are negative labels and used to exclude girls. Some girls felt that negative labelling was a reason for not speaking to teachers.

Emotional Issues

Isolation

The girls often felt very isolated when dealing with emotional issues. They often felt that they were the only person in the world experiencing their problems. One of the things that came out of all the groups was the fact that the girls appreciated being in a safe environment where they could talk to others and discover that they were not alone with their worries. This helped them to live with, and overcome their concerns and get on with the rest of their lives.

The girls saw 'being different' as a problem. If a girl could not fit into any group then she would be isolated, lonely and unhappy. The difference could be cultural, physical, to do with past experiences, differing abilities or may only be perceptible to the girl concerned. It would isolate them from friendship groups, which the girls saw as being important.

Lack of self-confidence
Lack of self-confidence and esteem can make it hard for girls to get their voices heard. Some schools identified groups of girls who were quiet and withdrawn to work with us. The type of work that we were doing enabled many of them to speak up and voice their worries. They were also able to achieve recognition as valued members of the groups. This enabled the groups to help them gain confidence to overcome their lack of confidence - which carried over into the classroom.

What we want to help us learn and become emotionally healthy

The girls with whom we worked on the project gave us very clear indications of what they need to enable them to have healthy emotional lives and to function better in school and at home. The main theme that emerged was their need to be listened to. They feel that their voices often go unheard and they are not always taken seriously when they state their problems. This is what they say they want:

To be listened to
This was the main concern voiced by the girls. They felt that they often went unheard at school and at home. They found this both frustrating and de-motivating, leading to disruption and/or withdrawal. We gave them space, both in developmental group-work and at the symposium to tell us their concerns, worries, complaints, dreams, views, ideas and opinions.

To be heard above the boys
The girls from mixed schools complained that they were often passed over in favour of the boys. This may be due to the disruptive behaviour of some of the boys and the pre-occupation with teachers of controlling this behaviour at the expense of the girls' education. They felt that they were taken less seriously than the boys were in some classes. The girls also felt that they were not treated as equally as their brothers in the home were. Again, their voices could not be heard over the clamour of the boys' needs.

To be treated as equals
The girls felt that they were not treated fairly by adults. Their views were not respected and they were made to feel of less value simply because of their age and their lack of status as students/young people. Whilst they recognised the roles that had to be played out in schools, they felt that the way in which they were responded to could be more respectful of their place in society as a whole.

To have emotional space
The girls felt a lack of emotional space in school life. They recognised that some problems could not be 'left at the school gate', but would be with them at all times. Help in resolving these problems was felt to be lacking, as was the recognition of their impact on the person concerned or even the acknowledgement of the existence of a difficulty in some cases.

To have friends
The importance of friendship groups came up time and again in the group-work. The ability to be able to share both good times and bad with friends was recognised by the girls. Problems could spill over into school when these groups were disrupted (either by school-group changes or by a falling-out within the group). Equally, problems could be averted by the girls working together to help and support each other. This emphasised the importance of allowing girls to work within friendship groups and of careful placement of girls in known friendship groups when they arrive in Year 7.

To share problems with each other
The girls emphasised the fact that they needed to be able to share their problems, with both trusted friends and adults. Some problems could be minimised, or even resolved, by girls themselves, working together. Other problems needed to be shared with trusted adults or peer counsellors.

The girls felt that they were more able to give of themselves than boys were. They felt that it was important that they could talk openly about their thoughts, hopes and fears without ridicule or dismissal. It was generally felt that boys were afraid to show their feelings, which was sad for boys.

To be supported by better pastoral systems
We asked the girls if they thought that the school should continue to support themselves and others; and whom they thought was best suited to doing this. They had different ideas that seem to fit into two systems: formal and informal pastoral work. A point to consider would be the necessity for flexible arrangements. A key factor when working with girls with emotional problems is that they will only talk to people with whom they feel comfortable - what works for one girl will not necessarily work for another.

A review of the way in which pastoral systems can help girls with emotional problems should be carried out. Specific training, and recognition of the value of such work, is necessary in schools.

Some girls felt that school staff could continue the work that we were doing. The groups that were identified were:

• Form tutors: were seen as the most likely people to pick up on emotional difficulties because they saw the girls more than other teachers. Some girls would be happy to talk to their form tutors, but recognise that lack of available time could be a problem. Other girls felt that their particular form tutor would not be a person that they could talk to - either because of personality clashes or the lack of interest in this type of work by the form tutor.
• PSE lessons: were seen as a possible venue for group-work by some girls. This is mainly due to the curriculum content of the subject which, they felt, lends itself to this format. The particular teacher and their attitude towards the work is considered to be the most important factor.
• Subject tutors: were named as being helpful where problems were mainly work based.

Many of the girls wanted work to continue with non-school based staff, as they felt that they did not want to involve the school in 'private' problems. In the past this would have involved Borough Support Staff. Other groups that could now come in are agencies like Liveline or The Place 2B or the Youth Service. Girls are aware that there are agencies available to them, however they are by no means aware of the breadth of this work. It would be helpful if posters from all local agencies were displayed prominently in schools for girls to consult. Other ways of raising awareness would be through assemblies, tutor time or PSE. The availability of drop-in counselling would be a great advantage. Time should be made available in schools: certain groups of girls are unable to access any help outside of school hours.

4. Recommendations

i. Equal Opportunities Monitoring Issues

ii. The Development of More Flexible Responses to Girls' Emotional Issues

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Appendices

Appendix A: Gender and Ethnicity Comparisons

Table A Breakdown By Gender - EBD Stages 4/5 (taken from BSTS casefile dated November 1999)

Table B
School A - Breakdown by Ethnicity
Comparison of Whole - School Population to Project Group Population

Table C
School D - Breakdown by Ethnicity
Comparison of Whole - School Population to Project Group Population

Table D
School E - Breakdown by Ethnicity
Comparison of Whole - School Population to Project Group Population

Appendix B Descriptions of Schools

Description of School A
School A is a single sex school towards the North Eastern end of the borough.
There are 1130 girls in the school.
The ethnic mix is as follows:

27.4% of girls are eligible for free school meals.

The percentage of students on the SEN register is10.4%. The number with statements is 0.8% compared to a national average of 2.4%.

35.9% have English as an additional language.

Description of School B
School B is a single sex school towards the eastern end of the borough.
There are 1339 girls in the school.
The ethnic mix is as follows:

54.5% of girls are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average.

The percentage of students with statements is 2.8% compared to a national average of 2.4%.

Description of School C
School C is a coeducational school situated in the south west of the borough. There were 836 students on roll on 21 / 01 / 99 : 444boys and 392 girls. The ethnic mix is as follows:

45.33% of students are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average.
The percentage of students with statements is 6.45% compared to a national average of 2.4%.

Description of School D
School D is a coeducational school situated in the south eastern end of the borough. There were 1140 students on roll on 21 / 01 / 99 : 582 boys and 558 girls. The ethnic mix is as follows:

40.96% of students are eligible for free school meals, well above the national average. The percentage of students with statements is 9% compared to a national average of 2.4%.

Description of School E
School E is a single sex school in the north of the Borough. There are 1194 girls in the school. Age range is 11 - 16 years. The ethnic mix is as follows:

37.7% of students are eligible for free school meals.
English is an additional language for 695 students (58.2%). 22 students (1.8%) have a Statement for SEN maintained by the LEA
202 students (16.9%) have SEN but no Statement

Appendix C Profiles of Girls

Bl= Black, Afr=African, lang=language, Bang=Bengali, Wh=White, sp=spelling, Y=yes, N=no, SpLD=specific learning difficulty

Index